For Our Sherpa Friends aims to help “provide relief to Sherpa families in crisis, as well as long-term support that transcends this single incident.” The fund’s website states, “Together, we will build a more comprehensive safety net for the high-altitude workers who help so many Westerners realize their dreams of the summit.”

'The Return' photograph by Aaron Huey

'Praying Hands' photograph by Cory Richards

'Chorten With Prayer Flags' photograph by Tommy Heinrich

While climbing Mount Everest is a dangerous expedition for all who attempt it, it is an especially dangerous undertaking for the Sherpas who guide climbers to the summit. In fact, the Sherpas who lead these expeditions work in conditions 12 times more dangerous than soldiers in Iraq during the first four years of the war. Huey, who has documented the Sherpa community extensively, says that while the community relies on climbers paying for guided trips, Sherpas deserve “better pay, better insurance, and better education…I think that is the responsibility of the community that uses the labor of the Sherpas to accomplish their dreams.”

The collective of photographers, led by Huey, have donated a selection of their prints to be sold on the site as a first step to raising money. Each listed at $100, the prints offered are an affordable and worthwhile way to make a difference. One hundred percent of the profits will be given to the Sherpa community. For more information about how the funds are distributed, you can visit the website.

2 Comments

Why, also, can't those who wish to climb, pay the real bill? Why are they seen like the privledged few? Those who wish to undertake such a climb have plenty of disposable income, but like Wall Street executives, feel that it's the duty of the underclass to do the heavy lifting for little pay and no benefits.